updated 10:53 am EST, Wed March 5, 2014

MacBook Pro line to go all-Retina

Apple is planning to discontinue the 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro in the second half of the year, Taiwanese supply chain sources claim. Production of the 15-inch non-Retina model was halted last year. With the elimination of its 13-inch counterpart, the MacBook Pro line would become entirely Retina-based. Apple would, moreover, be jettisoning its last MacBooks with built-in optical drives.

The claim is unlikely to be controversial. Beyond getting rid of its 15-inch non-Retina laptops, Apple has also reduced the prices of Retina MacBooks, making them a realistic option for more shoppers. The company has also been shifting towards Retina exclusivity; the only major product lines without Retina options are the MacBook Air and the iMac.

It'd be great if Apple offered fabulous close-out prices to clear inventory on this MacBook Pro. My white MacBook is now stranded two OS X versions back, but with an up-to-date Mac mini (for the office) and a marvelous iPad (for on the go), I see almost no reason to upgrade it. I keep telling myself to buy a new laptop and then I decide, "No, not now. No real need."

Inkling: Apple probably WILL offer discounts on the non-Retinas through its refurb store (which I highly recommend) and through allowances with retailers that will let them discount remaining stock (if and when this happens). If you want a non-Retina 13" MBP a year from now, you should be able to find them at better-than-retail prices.

Doesn't surprise me. It seemed obvious that the retina models would become the default once prices dropped and Apple could make enough. I am still surprised that the Air models and the pro are still two separate lines. Now that almost all Macs have SSD and none have DVD drives, there's not much difference between the two.

The differences between the two lines are still there. The Pro line offers full power mobile chips, while the high end Pro also offers quad core chips and discrete graphics processing, neither of which can currently be accommodated in the Air chassis.